Thai Airways International (THAI), in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, brought back 431 Thai nationals stranded in Hong Kong and Taipei.
Thais who had registered with the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei were eligible to take these special flights, Sqn Leader Anirut Sangrit, vice president of the airline’s flight operations department, said.
THAI flight TG607 brought back 189 Thais from Hong Kong on Wednesday night (September 9). This is the fourth flight organised to repatriate Thais from Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, flight TG633 brought back 242 Thais from Taipei on Thursday afternoon (September 10). This is the sixth flight organised to repatriate Thais from Taipei.
The airline also delivered cargo on these roundtrip flights.
A footballer from Uzbekistan, who plays in the Thai league, has tested positive for Covid-19 after finishing his mandatory quarantine on August 27.
Four Thai nationals were also found to be carrying the virus in state quarantine, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said on Saturday, reporting five new cases.
The Uzbek footballer, 29, who plays for Buriram United tested positive despite showing no symptoms, but his team-mates all tested negative.
The four Thais included a male, aged 9, who had returned from Japan, two males, aged 24 and 34, who had returned from India, and one female, 31, who had come back from the United Arab Emirates.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand stood at 3,466 (528 in state quarantine), of whom 96 are in hospital and 3,312 have recovered and been discharged. The death toll remains unchanged at 58.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Saturday, the total number of confirmed global cases passed 28.64 million (increasing by 312,224 in 24 hours), 20.57 million have recovered, 60,889 are in a serious condition and 919,577 have died.
Thailand is 125th for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number with 6.63 million, followed by India 4.65 million, Brazil 4.28 million, Russia 1.05 million and Peru 710,067.
A man was arrested on Friday (September 11) for allegedly robbing drunk people when they were asleep.
Ban Chang police in Rayong province arrested Pongsakorn (last name withheld) aged 41, after a victim reported to police about being robbed and investigation pointed to the accused.
Police said that the victim was drunk after visiting an entertainment venue. He decided to park the car for sleeping and found his belongings stolen.
After interrogation, Pongsakorn reportedly confessed to committing robbery on several occasions.
The accused, a taxi biker, reportedly said that he targeted mostly drunk persons who had parked their vehicles for sleeping. The accused said he would first try to awake them. In case, the men continued sleeping, he robbed them.
Pongsakorn reportedly also told police that he had sold his victims’ belongings for cash. The man was charged with robbery.
Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang has urged the Traffic and Transportation Department to assist five citizens who were injured after the bus shelter in front of a famous department store at the Ratchaprasong intersection collapsed on Friday (September 11).
The bus shelter appeared to have collapsed because its structure was rusty and damaged although it had been repaired periodically. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials removed the collapsed bus shelter and set up a tent on Saturday.
“BMA would like to apologise for the accident. Although the victims were only slightly injured, it caused uncertainty among people over the durability of bus shelters,” Aswin said. “Therefore, the BMA has appointed the Traffic and Transportation Department to check and improve the durability of bus shelters across Bangkok, especially those that have been used for a long time, to regain the confidence of the people.”
In place of the collapsed bus shelter, he said the BMA would construct a smart bus stop similar to the one in front of Central Plaza Grand Rama 9 with various facilities, such as LFD screen that inform about bus arrival time, CCTV camera, lighting, mobile phone charger and Wi-Fi hotspot.
“We will begin construction immediately after checking underground utilities to ensure the safety of citizens. We expect to complete it by next week,” he added.
The Gold Line monorail had a successful test run on Friday (September 11), Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said, adding this service will be opened in October.
Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) said the monorail will be free of charge for passengers in the initial period.
The monorail will stop at three stations – Krung Thonburi, Charoen Nakhon and Klong San – before linking up with the BTS Green Line.
The train will consist of two bogies, and the total passengers it can carry at one time is around 276, or 4,000 to 12,000 per hour. The trains will have a frequency of one every 6 to 12 minutes, covering 1.7 kilometres of distance.
Prominent places along the Gold Line route included Icon Siam, Lhong 1919, Taksin Hospital, and Somdet Chaopraya Hospital.
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Friday (September 11) that the ministry has piloted the electronic monitoring (EM) system since September 1.
EM ankle bracelets have been fitted on 39 prisoners upon their release. “We expect to use EM bracelets on 87,700 prisoners per year to reduce the overcrowding within prisons and increase monitoring capability to reduce the chance of repeat offences by released prisoners,” he said.
“Three groups of prisoners would be considered to be fitted with EM bracelets: those whose sentence was reduced by a royal pardon, those who were waiting for test results, and parolees,” added Somsak. “EM bracelets would not be used with prisoners who committed serious or violent crimes, as they could still be dangerous to the society.
“To be eligible from wearing EM bracelets, prisoners must pass the evaluation on risk of committing repeat offences. There are also other conditions, such as they must not leave or enter specified areas after being released,” he said. “Released prisoners must wear the EM bracelet for one year, which is the period when repeat offences are likely to have occurred.”
Among the 39 prisoners who were released and fitted with EM bracelets are two former politicians: former interior minister and Pheu Thai Party ex-leader Yongyuth Wichaidit (78), who was handed a two-year imprisonment sentence in the Alpine Golf Club land-graft case, and Plodprasop Suraswadi (75), former deputy prime minister during the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, who was handed a one year and eight months imprisonment sentence for wrongfully exercising his functions to the injury of other persons. Both received paroles due to old age and displaying good behaviour after serving eight and six months respectively.
The Student Loan Fund (SLF) plans to increase its loan budget for academic year 2020 from Bt34 billion to Bt37 billion to help students and parents during the Covid-19 situation, and expects up to 650,000 borrowers.
“The SLF has also adjusted the eligibility of borrowers from those having annual earnings not exceeding Bt200,000 to not exceeding Bt360,000 so that wider groups of parents can apply for loans for their children,” said SLF manager Chainarong Katchapanan. “Also, all borrowers will be granted an additional cost of living allowance at Bt600 per month.”
“There have been rumours circulating in social media from those who did not receive the allowance in the first month that they suspect the fund is nearly depleted,” he said. “This is just a misunderstanding, as it usually takes up to 30 days to approve the borrowers’ status to receive the allowance, whereas the money will be disbursed from the second month of the loan contract,” Chainarong said.
“The SLF uses its own rotational fund and has not requested any additional budget from the government since 2017. The fund is strong and can support up to 650,000 borrowers in the current academic year,” he added.
Chainarong added that after SLF opened the online channel, ‘e-Student Loan’ in April, 610,000 people have submitted their applications. The deadline for application submission for academic year 2020 is September 30.
Thundershowers are expected to hit many parts of the country with isolated heavy rain in the North, the Northeast, the East and the South, the Thailand Meteorological Department forecast on Saturday (September 12).
The weather department said the southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea and Thailand while the monsoon trough lies across Myanmar and the upper Northeast.
People in risky areas should beware of heavy rains and accumulated rainfall, the department cautioned. Winds and waves in the Andaman Sea are likely to be 1-2 metres high and above three metres during thundershowers.
The department has urged all ships to proceed with caution and keep away from thundershower areas while small boats should keep ashore.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 24-26 degrees Celsius, maximum 33-36°C.
Northeast: Cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 24-25°C, maximum 32-36°C.
Central: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 24-26°C, maximum 35-36°C.
East: Cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 24-27°C, maximum 32-35°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 23-26°C, maximum 33-35°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Cloudy with thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 22-24°C, maximum 30-31°C; waves 1-2 metres high and over three metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas and isolated heavy rain; minimum temperature 25-26°C, maximum 33-35°C.
The Army will send a force to the border to prevent foreign workers illegally entering the country and triggering a second wave of Covid-19, Army deputy spokeswoman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong announced on Friday.
The move comes after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed concern over a surge of Covid-19 cases in neighbouring countries and said the Army had an important duty to support the government in containing the virus, said Sirichan, speaking after an urgent meeting presided over by Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong.
“Since the Army has a responsibility to protect natural borders across the country, the Army chief instructed military officers from area commands and Special Warfare Command to establish a special force to closely monitor border areas,” she said.
She added that the prime minister had also emphasised that Thailand was still at risk despite having effectively contained the spread of Covid-19.
A teacher in Sing Buri was suspended on Friday over allegations he sexually abused a schoolgirl in his charge. If an investigation finds him guilty, he will be dismissed from the teaching profession on September 28, said the Sing Buri Provincial Education Office.
Chana Summat, director of the Protection and Rescue Centre for Sexually-Harassed Students, said his organisation will take about a week to investigate the case.
“After finding the truth, we dismiss erring teachers from public education and set up a committee to investigate their actions,” he explained.
Since the centre was established in March, every case it had investigated had resulted in the accused teacher being found guilty and having their teaching licence cancelled, he added.
The importance of combating sexual harassment in schools has been enshrined in Education Ministry policies, Chana pointed out.
People can complain about cases of sexual harassment in education by calling the 1579 hotline around the clock or via the website www.nataphol.com, launched last week by Education Minister Natapol Teepsuwan.
Representational Image 
General Apirat Kongsompong 
